1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to contactors and, more particularly, to a contactor used for a characteristic test of electronic parts such as a semiconductor device and a test method using the contactor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a demand for miniaturization and weight-saving to electronic equipments such as a portable communication terminal, a cellular phone, a digital camera, etc., have become strong.
As a semiconductor device satisfying such a demand, there is used a semiconductor device referred to as a chip-size package (CSP: Chip Size Package), which is packaged into almost the same size as an IC chip. As a representative example of the CSP, there are FBGA (Fine-pitch Ball Grid Array), FLGA (Fine-pitch Land Grid Array), etc.
On the other hand, in a central arithmetic device of a computer, such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a number of external connection terminals has been increasing due to improvement in a degree of integration. As a result, unlike the above-mentioned CSP, an outer configuration of a CPU is enlarged and a pitch of the external connection terminals (electrodes) is decreased further. As an IC package used for a CPU, there are BGA (Ball Grid Array), LGA (Land Grid Array), etc.
Although the configuration of semiconductor devices and the configuration and size of external connection terminals vary widely and many kinds of semiconductor devices have been put on the market as mentioned above, miniaturization, weight-saving and improvement in a degree of integration have been attempted in each of the semiconductor devices and miniaturization of electrodes and reduction in an electrode pitch have been attempted.
Those semiconductor devices are subjected to a characteristic test in a manufacturing process, and it is necessary to acquire an electric conduction temporarily with external connection terminals when performing the characteristic test. In order to electrically connect a semiconductor device and a test circuit, generally, a contactor is used. In association with the miniaturization of external connection terminals of a semiconductor device and reduction in a pitch as mentioned above, it is necessary to miniaturize contact terminals of a contactor and reduce a pitch.
Here, an example of a conventional contactor is shown in FIG. 1. A contactor 2 shown in FIG. 1 is one used in a characteristic test of a semiconductor device 4 of BGA type, and has a plurality of contact pins 6. Each of the contact pins 6 has a contact part that contacts an external connection terminal 4a of the semiconductor device 4 and a contact part that is connected to an electrode part 8a of a test circuit board 8. It is a structure in which the contact pins 6 are bent by the semiconductor device 4 being pressed from above so that an appropriate contact pressure is applied to the external connection terminals 4a of the semiconductor device 4 and the electrode parts 8a of the test circuit board 8
The following patent documents, for example, are listed as a document relevant to the background art of the present invention.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application NO. 7-72212
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application NO. 7-94249
When performing a characteristic test of a semiconductor device using a conventional contactor using the above, particularly in a characteristic test of a high-frequency device, a length of a contact pin itself becomes a capacitance (inductance), which becomes a noise generating source when performing the high-frequency characteristic test, and there is a case where a sufficient characteristic test cannot be performed.
That is, an end of the conventional contact pin is pressed by an electronic part and the contact pin bends by a degree corresponding to the press, and an opposite end of the contact pin contacts and is pressed by a terminal of a test circuit board, and a conduction path between the electric part and the test circuit board is formed. If such a conventional contact pin is used for a contactor for testing, for example, an analog system high-frequency device, the length of the contact pin becomes a capacitance (inductance), which becomes causes of noise generation, cross-talk generation or the like.
Therefore, in order to reduce a length of a contact pin, that is, a conduction path length of a contact terminal, there are suggested contactors having various shapes, however, under the condition where a high-frequency band has been raised year by year, there have increasing a number of cases where it is difficult to perform a characteristic test with a contactor using the conventional contact pins. Additionally, it becomes impossible to acquire a bend amount (stroke) of a contact terminal sufficiently due to shortening the conduction path, and there also is a problem in that it cannot be applied to an automatic conveyance apparatus (a test handler or the like) in a mass-production time.